Device for crushing and cleaning fibrous vegetable units



Nov. 27, 1951 J. MCCRAE ET AL 2,576,406

DEVICE FOR CRUSHING AND CLEANING E FIBROUS VEGETABLE UNITS Filed Dec. 28, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Jam 66 Mo drae/ En r i/qzqe Mane/70 Nov. 27; 1951 J. McCRAE ETAL 2,576,406

DEVICE FOR CRUSHING AND CLEANING FIBROUS VEGETABLE UNITS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 28, 1945 v INVENTOR. (Team as Mo 6 raa finrj/qwemanero A'ITEI RN EYS Nov. 27, 1951 J. 'MGCRAE ETAL 2,576,406

DEVICE FOR CRUSHING AND CLEANING FIBROUS VEGETABLE UNITS Filed Dec. 28, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 I b q l K l g; I

E511 an Ii n w E Q Q INVENTOR.

m c/am osMc Grae/ Enr vque/Uanem ATTD RN EYE Nov. 27, 1951 J. MccRAE ETAL 2,576,406

DEVICE FOR CRUSHING AND CLEANING FIBROUS VEGETABLE UNITS Filed Dec. 28, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I m R KR INVENTOR. James Jl fc Graze Enrpq'weManero A'ITD RN EYS Patented Nov. 27, 1951 DEVICE FORGKUSHING AND CLEANING FIBRQ US VEGETABLEvv UNITS James McGraeand Enrique M'anero, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico; said McCrae= assignor' to said Manero,

Applicationllecemlier 28, 1945,, Serial No. 637,795..

I'n'Mexi'co December 30,1944

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to an improvedprocess anda device for treating fibrous vegetable material, more particularly to an improved method and device for decorticating such fibres as bonequen, sansevieria, pita, and other similar plants, and for preparing them for commercial uses;

The invention includes the method ofperforming the operation known as decor-ticating or scraping, which consists of extracting fibres contained' in vegetable units, and for providing improved arrangements and/or devices for performing the method,- which, in this case, is to obtain the following commercialresults: a greater proportion of fibrein the extracting operations, a better quality of the same fibre having a greater degree of strength, preservation of the natural and required parallel formation of the fibre, and obtainment of'a greater proper-tion of finer fibres, which, in the past, have been lost during extraction.

Heretofore, the decorticating of fibrous material was done by securing a. fibrous leaf near its base, supporting it on one side on a firm surface, and scrapin it on the other side with a semi;- sharp instrument, until the pulp tissue has been separated from -the fibre. The scraping action was secured. by an arrangement consisting of a revolving wheel of suitablev dimensionsv and furnished with a, series of circumf'erenti'ally arranged semi-sharp metallic blades. A semi-circular and concentric rigid part, known as a concave, was arranged adjacent to and adjustable in relation to the blades, in. order to provide a space for the leaves or plants presented for. treat.-

ment. ihe movement of the wheel caused the blades to scrape the leaves. or plants, thereby breaking down the firm structure, and. separating, and removing extraneous. matter or tissue, leaving the fibres in a relatively clean condition. The feeding of. the leaves or plants to the machine wasv by conveying chains, and. the relative adjustment between the wheel, blades,.concave and chains, determined the degree of the decortieating action of the machines.

The foregoing procedure. has the disadvantage of being uni-lateral, that is, the decorti'catihg action is performed only on one. side of. the fibrous vegetable material, while the other side reposed ona rigid surface. Furthermore, the. type blade used in this form of. machine has the. disadvantage that its beating action was so vigorous and. rapid that many fibres are broken and lost. In, addition,,thefibres are. bruised. at many points along their length, injuring and weakening them, which in turn affects the tensile strength, each 2 fibre being no stronger than its weakest point, and: this fault is transmitted to the ultimate textile product, with the resultant disadvantage. An additional disadvantage resulting from this system. is that the, fibres, during treatment, are twisted and entangled with each'other; Heretofore the leaves-or plants have been presented to the action of the blades to be treated uni-laterally, wherein the blades operate across the grain of-the-fibreformation, and as this does not provide for first loosening the tissues of the leaves or plants" a great force is required, which leads to the destruction of a proportion of the fibres. The harshness of this system prevents the, securing of fibres of finer texture;

The bi-lateral treatment with which the present invention is concerned involves; two separate and complementary operations: first, the loosening of the tissues and partially separating extraneous matter; and second; the cleaning of the fibres; .The. first operation was heretofore performed by several pairs of rolls having flutes arranged longitudinally orcircumferentially, between which the" plants. or leaves were subjected to a bi-lateral and uniform. and, successive crushing. The second operation of cleaning was done bypairs of aprons furnished. with a transverse series of uniform blades, which aprons were arranged to operate in parallel", one superimposed over the other, between which the plants or leaves which have previously been crushed in the roller device, were inserted to obtain the cleaning of the fibres. All this, although being a notable advance over all previously known methods, contains, however, two fundamental disadvantages.

In the crushing. system, the fluted rolls, even if they loosen tissues, also partially disarrange the fibres,.and also. injure. them in relation to the flutes cf the rolls. The "bi-lateral and com.- plementary cleaning process has the disadvantage of cleaningthe fibres in one length simultaneously by means of uniform blades, as in the old system, thus precluding a cleaning operation in a gradual and systematic manner, which is necessary for complete elimination. of extraneous matter, and so. that. the fibres. do not lose. their tensile strength, andthat they retain their natural parallel formation.

The improved. methods and devices which are involved in this. invention, remove the disadvantages referred to inthe preceding paragraphs as there is taken. into account the fact that extraction is the first phase in the evolution of fibres which begins in the vegetable unit and. ends in a manufactured textile product. To realize this fact, a special device is arranged to crush the vegetable units by a system which localizes pressures upon areas of more or less extent, and more or less depth. This system is applied in a complete and simultaneous manner, breaking down the tissues, and loosening the extraneous matter, but in such a way that the parallelism of the fibres is retained, as provided by nature, and which is precisely the formation required by the textile industry in its spinning operations.

This said parallelism is retained because the action of pressing upon localized areas ensures that the fibres located in places where pressure is not applied, control the position of those where pressure is being applied.

In addition, the fact that pressure is applied repeatedly on small areas instead of applying the total pressure on the complete surface, results in a substantial economy of motive power.

In the cleaning operation a conveying system is utilized to secure the retention of an unequal thickness of material, which has the advantage of preventing any fibres from being pulled out or dislodged and lost by the action of the cleaning mechanism. Also each individual fibre is cleaned as it is brought into direct and uniform contact with the cleaning mechanism. The pressure of the cleaning tools can be regulated so that the film of gummy substances in the fibres is also removed to the degree required, depending upon the varying characteristics of the fibres.

Another improvement of the present invention in the cleaning mechanism is that the cleaning action is first applied to the extremity of the fibre, and then progressively along its length. The cleaning effect can be increased by arranging for the fibre to move in a direction opposite to the movement of the cleaning mechanism.

By various means, the cleaning mechanism is brought into synchronization with the crushing mechanism. This has the result of making possible the treatment of all kinds of fibres; thick or fine; long or short; with tissues having varying degrees of adherence; and especially fibres of finer and more delicate textures.

The forementioned methods and mechanisms are described in the following description of the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a plan view of the crushing device;

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the device of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken through 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view similar to that of Figure 3, but of a modification having an arrangement of alternate pairs of parallel discs, of which some are plain and others indented;

Figure 5 is a sectional view similar to that of Figure 3, but of a still further modification, in which each opposed pair of discs consists of a plane and an indented disc;

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of a cleaning mechanism;

Figure '7 is a plan view of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is an end elevation of the cleaning mechanism as viewed from the left of Figure 6;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary view of Figure 6 showing details of the cleaning systems.

The crushing device has a plurality of shafts I, to which are fixed a series of discs, which may be in the form of serrated or indented discs 3, as shown in Figure 3, or a combination of smooth discs 2 and serrated discs 3, as shown in Figures 4 and 5.

The diameter of the discs may be varied, for example from 15 cm. to 45 cm., according to the nature of the vegetable units which are to be treated. The thickness of the discs can be varied. but it is preferable that it be approximately 10% of the diameter of the discs. The discs 3 are keyed to their respective shafts I, so that projections on opposed discs register with each other exactly, due to gearing 4 and 4', to be explained. The number of projections may be varied to suit the various vegetable units to be treated. The dimensions of the projections on each disc 3 in relation to the dimensions of the indentations therebetween may also be varied to suit the various vegetable units to be treated.

The axial spaces between the discs 3 on each shaft 1 are slightly wider than the width of the discs as shown in Figure 1, for purposes to be explained later.

The axles or shafts I of each series of discs are arranged in upper and lower parallel rows, with the shafts in one row being vertically aligned with the shafts respectively in the other row, to thereby form a pair of opposed shafts spaced apart with one above the other a distance such that the peripheries of corresponding discs on the opposed shafts are adjacent each other in almost tangential relationship, as shown in Figure 3, the spacing between opposed discs being just suflicient for the passage of material, to be treated, therebetween.

In the modified form of Figure 4, wherein smooth as well as serrated discs are employed, similar types of discs are associated in pairs. In the further modified form of Figure 5, wherein both types of discs are employed, dissimilar types are matched in pairs. Dependent upon the type of vegetable units to be treated, either or all of the discs may be employed in the crushing device.

The opposed shafts l of each pair rotate in unison in opposite directions by meshing gears 4' and '3 respectively, fixed to the shafts On the opposite side of the frame 3', alternate shafts of each row are interconnected by gears 5 and 6', respectively, with one of said gears connected to a source of power, not shown.

, In operation, the upper and lower series of discs revolve in opposite directions, and the vegetable units diagrammatically illustrated and identified by reference numeral 4a. (seen Figure 3) are fed into the crusher and pass positively and simultaneously from one pair of discs to the next and so on through the machine, receiving the crushing action, the extracted fibres leaving the machine to the right in Figure 3.

The device for cleaning the fibres is illustrated in Figure 6, and includes two double grooved conveyor wheels, 5 and 6 (see also Figure 9), rotatably attached to supporting axles l and 8, and an intermediate drum 9. Cooperating with the wheels 5 and 6, and the drum 9, are a number of small sheaves for tensioning guiding cables or chains on and about the peripheries of the two wheels 5 and 6 and the intermediate drum 9.

A first conveyor cable 23 is supported on sheaves l0 and II, about wheel 5, over drum 9 and under sheaves I2 and I3, returning to sheave H].

A second conveyor cable 24 passes over drum 9, under wheel 6, over sheaves I4 and I5 and under sheave l2, returning to drum 9.

A cable 25 is trained over wheel 5 and sheave 16, with the bottom flight of. the cable frictionally contacting the drum 9.

A second cable 26 is carried by wheel 6 and sheaves l4 and I! with the bottom flight of the cable contacting the sheave l4.

Finally, a fifth cable 21, wider than the cables 25 and 26, is supported by sheaves |8, |9 and 20, and frictionally contacting the drum 9.

The cleaning devices are generally identified as 2| and 22, illustrated in Figure 7. Each mechanism consists of two endless aprons 36 and 31,

formed of chains and driven by sprockets 32 and 33. As shown in Figure 8, the aprons are separated to receive the vegetable units. Each apron is formed or articulated sections or'bars on which the tools or cleaning devices 39 are secured, those devices being interchangeable.

The vegetable units, designated 4a in Figure 9, after having passed through the crushing device, are in the form of fibrous skeletons of greatly reduced volume and weight. These units are next placed between sheave H and wheel 5, whereupon the vegetable units are gripped between the cable 23 and the periphery of the wheel 5, as shown in Figure 9, and carried down to the cleaning device 2|. As the wheel 5 continues to turn in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 6, the vegetable unit is carried through the cleaning device in a gradual and progressive manner, cleaning that end of the vegetable unit extending from the conveyor cable 23 and into the device 2|. The gradual and progressive movement of the fibrous vegetable units through the cleaning device 2| is due to the curvature of the wheel 5. The fibrous vegetable units hang downwardly from the endless cables, whereby the first units entering the endless aprons 36 and 31 are only partly drawn into the scraping unit and as the fibrous vegetable units reach the center substantially the whole body portions thereof are drawn into the aprons 36 and 31. As the vegetable units continue to pass through the scraper elements they leave with only the tips thereof being positioned between the scraper elements when they reach the opposite side of the cleaning device.

After the vegetable unit has been carried through the cleaning device 2|, it is carried by cable 23 and wheel 5 toward the drum 9. Just prior to reaching the drum 9, the vegetable unit is caught between the cables 23 and and carried toward the drum 9. As it approaches the drum 9, the cable 21 will force the vegetable unit against the periphery of the drum 9, which in turn advances the vegetable unit in the direction of the arrow shown on drum 9 of Figure 6, whereupon the cleaned portion of the vegetable unit is grasped between the cables 21 and 24 and transferred to the grip between the cable 24 and the periphery of the wheel 6, which in turn carries the uncleaned portion of the vegetable unit through the cleaning device 22, for cleaning similar to that done by the cleaning device 2|.

By the means just described, cleaning action is performed on both ends of the vegetable fibres as they pass between the parallel aprons of the cleaning devices 2| and 22;

We claim:

A cleaner for units of fibrous material comprising a vertically positioned double grooved starting conveyor wheel, .a similar finishing conveyor wheel, means journaling the wheels in spaced relation and with the faces of the wheels in spaced parallel planes, a pair of endless coacting scraper chains extended from the side of the said starting conveyor wheel on which the plane extended through the finishing wheel is positioned, the meeting surfaces of said scraper chain positioned in a horizontal plane corresponding with the lower edge of the said starting conveyor wheel, the lowermost of the said scraper chains extended under the said starting conveyor wheel, a pair of endless coacting scraper chains extended from the side of the said finishing conveyor wheel on which the plane extended through the starting wheel is positioned, the meeting surfaces of said scraper chains positioned in a horizontal plane corresponding with 'the lower edge of the said finishing conveyor wheel, the lowermost of said scraper chains extended under the said finishing conveyor wheel, the said endless scraper chains extended from the finishing conveyor wheel extended in a direction opposite to that of the scraper chains extended from the starting conveyor wheel, endless belts trained over the said conveyor wheels and extended in overlapping relation between the said wheels whereby with one end of the said fibrous vegetable units secured between a belt on the said starting conveyor wheel and the wheel the extended end of the unit is fed to the scraper chains extended from the wheel and after leaving the scraper chain the extended ends of the units are" picked up by a belt on the finishing conveyor wheel with the opposite or unscraped ends of the units extended from the said finishing conveyor wheel and carried thereby with the scraper chains extended therefrom wherein the formerly unscraped ends of the units are scraped and the complete areas of the units are cleaned with the fibres thereof in parallel relation.

JAMES McCRAE. ENRIQUE MANERO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file' of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,010,006 Worth Nov. 28, 1911 1,132,122 Roberts Mar. 16, 1915 1,258,571 Humphrys Mar. 15, 1918 1,317,325 Shely Sept. 30, 1919 1,671,219 Baldinger May 29, 1928 2,197,242 McCrae Apr. 16, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 24,057 Great Britain of 1909 397,193 Great Britain Aug. 24, 1933 

